Fallout 76: The Nukashine Challenge
by DazedShadow
Summary: A journal of different adventures doing the Nukashine Challenge - In underwear, armed with a knife, and a single bottle of purified water, I document quests of getting back to my camp after drinking a Nukashine.
1. Adventure 1

**Disclaimer:** _I read online about the Nukashine challenge: Drink a Nukashine and with no armor, one purified water, a knife (mine is level 10), and only in underwear, make it back to either your camp or Vault 76. I figured I would try a couple of these and write down what happened. The events are as followed._

**Nukashine Adventure One**

Tonight was the night. I took out a Nukashine from my stash box and downed it. The whole bottle in one gulp. In an instant, blues and purples pulsed my vision as I stared out at a lovely view of the hazy mountains. I noticed my atomic lamp was unplugged, but before I had a chance to plug it back in, I blacked out…

I woke up in a tree house north of Dolly Sods Lookout. A cardboard cutout of a '20s mobster armed with a tommy gun stared at me. I had only a knife, one purified water, and was in my underwear. It was dark and the moon was a bright bulb in the sky.

I made my way down the treehouse. Loud bangs of items falling scared me, I felt vulnerable. I made it down and into grass where I instantly crouched. I then headed west with Mosstown just south, I had yet to discover it after seeing it from a Dolly Sods Lookout. I'll save a tour of that town on another day when I'm better prepared. The moonlight shined between the trees and its strong rays looked speculator.

I came to my first rock ledge. I tried to jump up on it but this wasn't working. I followed the wall and found a dirt path that led up. This is where I came across my first vile creature: a radscorpion. I couldn't take my eyes off its nasty stinger. Timidly, I hid in a dead bush, the long branches made great cover as I waited for it to pass. After it was gone I ran up the path and another one popped from under the ground! I quickly retreated back where I made a risky jump to a steep ledge to get away. Thankfully the ledge widen as a fall of that height would have killed me. It slopped downward and eventually I was able to hop down from a safe height to the ground.

Then I heard the menacing sound of flapping wings. My stomach churned as I looked up between the sprawled trees: I saw a scorch beast patrolling. My heartbeat increased, my senses told me it was level 65. It was hard to keep an eye of the scorchbeast, but when the sound of the wings dissipated, I surreptitiously moved. I walked onto another small rocky plate. Then I heard the small tick of rads, I was at 1 - then 1 - then 2 - then it jumped to 5. I had accidentally discovered a fissure site. I looked right to see a level 65 scorched conqueror holding a pistol and aiming it right at me. At that moment I heard the screech of the scorchbeast diving down. Luckily he was looking at the scorched conqueror. The music boomed and I knew it was time to flee.

I ran right past the fissure site and my rads jumped to over 20. I didn't care, I just wanted to get away from the scorch battle taking place right behind me. I heard sonic rays being used, if those came close I would be dead. I heard the boom of the rays hitting the ground. The crackle of gunfire the scorched was returning. I again ran for cover in the woods and crouched by some white puffy rocks like hard pillows. The music calmed to a peacefully violin and I knew it was safe. I was a little bit less than half way home.

I heard gunshots to my south. I was tempted to peek over a rugged boulder nearby to get a look. I saw the long red line of a laser shot. I came over a grassy hill to witness a supermutant and a liberator in a duel. Normally I would crash the party but I kept my distance. I checked my map and exhaled as two gang camps stood before me. I would have to circle north. I remained crouched and accidentally came across a guard post which thankfully was empty.

I was now at the home stretch and the sky above was turning a light shade of blue as the sunrise was close. I took off running toward Seneca Rocks and my safe camp. I kept to the high ground and my eyes were glued to the disheveled road for any passing hostiles. A thought passed of how many cars used to drive on that road.

Without further life threatening events, I cheerfully jumped into my camp. It wasn't the longest journey, I didn't even need to use my one water I brought, but it was a great mental test. I was hungry and I was thirsty, just barely out of the red. My rads took my "full health" down to 80 percent.

I checked the fermenter at my camp to see a new Nukashine almost ready. Maybe next time I'll end up even farther or I'll try for Vault 76. We shall see.

**Endnote:** Adventure two is posted as chapter two. Following my story would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading my work!


	2. Adventure 2

Disclaimer: _I read online about the Nukashine challenge: Drink a Nukashine and with no armor, one purified water, a knife (mine is level 10), and only in underwear, make it back to either your camp or Vault 76. I figured I would try a couple of these and write down what happened. The events are as followed._

**Nukashine Adventure Two**

The evening sun glows red in my camp and long shadows stretch from the trees. I decide it's a nice night to drink a Nukashine. After I drank the last drop, my vision morphed to a deep blue mixed with purple. I took out my knife and aimlessly started swiping it in the air. My camp sits near a ledge with a drop of about one hundred feet. I felt so invincible that I started jumping up and down while gazing out over West Virginia. Then… it went black…

I awoke in a swamp. Fat trees with their bushy canopies blanketed the sky. There was a small wooden platform floating before me. It had a box, a lawn chair with a skeleton on it, and a table with a teddy bear. My pip-boy beeped and stated I was risking waterborne disease, so I ran to the edge and out of the water. I was east again, a little bit south of ransacked bucker. A little farther this time and a good second test.

I passed rotting stumps and yellow mushrooms. The trees were hollow and had a tangle of roots dipped in the murky water. I looked to my left to see three glowing bloodbugs rise from the depths. Their bodies had spots of yellow neon highlights with giant eyes on their face and rapid flapping wings. They looked to me but didn't attack. I crouched and silently crept forward as I tried to make myself inconspicuous.

I kept along a giant rock wall, the water was still to my left. I reached a long railroad bridge. The foundation was held up by stone pillars that rose out of the water. The steel girders were your typical crosses seen on railroad bridges. The water was now up to my waist and I had to decide to either stick to the water or use the small wooden staircase to get onto the tracks. I chose the stairs. I passed a small boat with a dead man in a white shirt. He possessed an assault rifle, but I decided not to cheat and stick to my knife.

When I reached the topped, I started to take rads. To my left was a pile of dumped radioactive barrels, and even farther in the tunnel, a supermutant patrolled. His attention was occupied elsewhere giving me time to crouch down and sneak by without detection across the bridge toward Harper's Ferry.

The bridge had rusted brown spots on its steel edges. A pile of mud and broken branches laid waste on it. Most of the wooden sleepers were broken or missing. The bridge ended into an intersection of railroad tracks. On one of the tracks there was a line of decaying boxcars. On top of one of these graffiti covered boxcars, a supermutant was keeping watch. I walked to the edge of the tracks and dropped down below the stone wall to avoid his eyesight.

I kept to the edge and passed by a pile of spilled blue barrels. I could hear gunshots coming from Harper's Ferry. I followed the train tracks north of Harper's Ferry when through the hazy air I spotted a patrol of three scorched conquerers. I crouched and went left to hide in the grass. I could see one had a pitchfork. Their black outlines moving between the trees was something out of a horror film.

Then I heard the faint beeping in twos… a nuke code. It was still early in the week and tempting. I wouldn't go off searching, but if I ran into it, I'd fight for it. When I came over a small hill I heard a guttural roar. I peeked over and saw a Godzilla vs. King Kong: It was a Diseased Hulking Mega Sloth fighting a Shaggy Yao Guai. I obviously kept my distance, the beeping of the nuke code still in the background, but I couldn't help not watching this fight. Like a boxing match, they took turns attacking: The mega sloth would claw at the yao guai and the yao guai would get on its hind legs and swipe a massive paw at the mega sloth. It was fun to watch these two behemoths go at it.

I sat in the grass and watched the yao guan wear down his opponent. The mega sloth finally fell and with his dying breath he released radioactive dust from his lungs. Immediately, the massive victor turned and started hulking toward me. His pinkish skin and large teeth were not something I was prepared to deal with even with half his energy gone. I bolted before the yao guai had any inclination he had a spectator.

On my right was the Thunder Mountain Substation TM-01. It had a massive yellow generator and a danger sign hanging on the fence. In the middle were steel beams and large coils with red vines entangled with it. I thought about how much energy was in front of me as I listened to the faint electric hum. I shuddered thinking about how much the red vine was absorbing. I peeked through the fence and didn't see anything worth checking out, so I moved onward.

The beeping of the nuke code was now growing faint as I continued west. I ran under hanging power lines and onto a cracked road. I read a green sign on the side of the road that informed me I was outside Berkeley Springs.

I surreptitiously moved up the hill and came to a rock about three feet high. Right before I was about to hop over it, I saw another scorched patrol, all three were holding pitchforks. Their blurred motion in the mist made me wonder if I was still feeling the Nukashine. I heard their grunts and yells. Was it from internal pain? I counted the yellow horns on their heads. After they passed, I continued up the hillside.

On the edge of Berkeley Springs was a broken down yellow building the size of a trailer home. I downed my one purified water and decided this would be my one pit stop. I made my way through the brown brush and by a rusted truck that used to be a turquoise. To think that was once a brand new truck.

Inside this trailer was a bathroom with toilet paper and in the living room sat a safe I couldn't get into. I took the only item I found useful: a gas mask left in the sink. I walked outside and donned the mask. I looked like a World War One soldier.

I walked through bushes of Aster and Fireberries. I looked behind and saw the short camel humped mountains tinged in a baby blue. The world might be shit, but it has its beautiful moments here in Appalachia. I continued up the slope but made sure to dart sporadic looks at the scenic view at my rear. I noticed a glowing radstag and her doe, their neon yellow glow was a pretty mixture with the denuded trees. I left them in peace.

Then a glowing blue frog dropped from a ledge above me. I lunged my knife into its soft body, neon blue blood splurged from the wound. It coated the ground like thick oil. I wiped away the pieces of flesh from my face. I sliced through the dead frog and collected its meat. I headed north to find a way up this massive rock wall in front of me. I found a path upward after about three hundred feet. I then passed Wendigo Cave. I kept my eyes glued on that dark entrance for any stick figured ghouls. Thankfully I didn't see any lanky nightmares.

I crossed a shifted road that looked like the aftermath of an earthquake. I noticed an abandoned motorcycle, its owner probably long dead. I ran under a thin red bridge, large rust stains now slowly ate it away. I ran up the final hill I knew to be my finish line! I had reached my home! I cooked the glowing meat and turned it into glowing meat steak. I will save that for another day.

I stood at the edge of my camp looking over the same horizon as last night. The sky now an early morning white and the distant old mountains look like large black mounds. I think how happy I am to be back safe at camp. Then my Nukashine in my fermentor catches my eye.

**Endnote**: I will do another of these early next week. I think this time I will do it survival mode. A story/author follow would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	3. Adventure 3

**Disclaimer:** _I read online about the Nukashine challenge: Drink a Nukashine and with no armor, one purified water, a knife (mine is level 10), and only in underwear, make it back to either your camp or Vault 76. I figured I would try a couple of these and write down what happened. The events are as followed._

**Nukashine Adventure Three**

The final drop of the blue liquid touches the back of my throat. I look to the skies and the familiar purples and blues have returned for a sequel. Boy does it feel good to be wasted in this dystopian world. I pause and gaze at faraway puffy grey clouds releasing rain then abruptly the familiar black returns…

I find myself in disgusting brown water again, this time I'm drowning. I quickly lift my head above the surface of the murky water. Warnings of waterborne disease flash on my Pip-Boy again. I take shelter underneath a sprouting red vine that looks intrusive on a former beautiful tree. I look to my map to find I'm just south of Ransacked Bunker. A light rain falls and makes tiny shockwaves on the water. I head south where I encounter my first enemy: bloodbugs. Their long needle-noses send feelings of trepidation, but courage follows after. I decide to fight them.

I discover there are three of them. Glowing neon green and disease-ridden, they spring an attack at the sight of my pale skin. I swing my small knife into their enlarged compound eyes. They drive their painful nose into my arm and I contract parasites. I stab one, sending blood flying into the air. Realizing this is a losing battle, I run into the water and dash farther south. Their ominous buzzing grows distant.

I remain in a large body of water, an orangish rusty bridge on my right. I swim across and find a boxcar perfectly angled out of the scummy pond. I shutter at horrifying memories fighting hermit crabs hidden inside buses, thankfully the one I pass is not occupied.

I head up a narrow ravine and under a broken bridge and enter Harper's Ferry. I run onto a cracked street and past long-abandoned cars to see two scorchers patrolling the road — One holds a knife and the other a gun. I sneak behind the long boat-like cars on the other side of the road and remain hidden from sight. I pass the courtyard of Harper's Ferry Armory and I'm flooded with memories coming here to complete the Tourist's photograph list, that poor soul.

I exit Harper's Ferry and head into the long bushy matted grass. The deciduous trees now burnt red and hollow. I cross another former busy road and continue into the grasslands. The rain still falls at a constant rate, soaking my exposed skin.

I then see a wooden box structure not on the map. It's a camp owned by another vault dweller, EvilMonkey. I open the door and walk into his cabin to find two floors with various posters, a dingy bed, and an alarm clock. Normally I would leave a passing gift, but I must continue on my journey back home. His turrets watch my every move to make sure I don't get any devilish ideas.

I continue west through small ferns and over another road to find Sugar Grove. I use a hole in a broken fence to get through and a family of glowing molerats awaits me. I stick my blade into their thick bodies. Thick blood splats onto the concrete like buckets of paint. More appear and I stab away, contracting rads as I do. Blood now coats my small knife after my animalistic kills. I cut away slabs of excess fat for meat, my health now down to 3/4's.

I hear a familiar beeping and decide this time to see if I can find the nuke code. I head to the roof of Sugar Grove and the beeping grows. I look through a large gash in the roof made courtesy of a Brotherhood helicopter that obviously lost control and see a machine-gun turret. The beeping seems to be coming from down there.

I find an emergency staircase to find a way to flank this machine-gun, my exposed body would easily be shredded by its destructive stream of lead. I crouch and enter behind the spinning turret, smoke rises from its grinding small engine. Then on my right, a nasal voice announces, "Intruder." A protrectron fires red laser beams at me. Tears welt in my eyes as the stinging pain blackens my skin. Overmatched, I turn and run, regrettably quitting my mission to find the nuke code.

I exit back up the stairs and glance at my health bar now at 1/4th. I can hear a Major Gutsy on my tail as I continue my forced escape. I dart up the side of the hill and lose my pursers. I gather blackberrys, hoping to find a way to recover some health as I am dangerously low. Nothing helps. I decide to keep my knife handy and stay positive. My camp is close. I use thick crimson brush as cover as I look at my light inventory for something to recover health.

My appetite drains from the poisonous parasitic insects in my stomach. I force myself to eat the uncooked molerat meat. I get an update on my location to find I am just north of Site Alpha. I come to a large white rocky path. I keep my eyes peeled for any nefarious figures.

As I cross the final road to my camp, Route 63, I stop and gaze at a petrified corpse. Their grey crusty frame with open cracks of green. I shiver as I think what their last thoughts were before death rudely greeted them.

I run up the small hill and rejoice to find my camp. I dig into my stash box to locate a disease cure. I swallow them dry and instantly feel relief in my stomach as my annoying guests are killed. I sit on my chair and look out over Appalachia. The high noon sun feels great and warms me as my adrenaline falls. I think of the cold Nukashine sitting in my fermentor. I really need to stop pre-making these…

**Endnote**: I will be doing another one of these next week. A story/author follow would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!


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